


My Soul for a Day's Peace

by TheDeepSeaWitch



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Fantasy, He's just tired and busy, Humor, M/M, Madara cares, My first fic posted here!, Prompt - Demon Summoning, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 16:16:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8923843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDeepSeaWitch/pseuds/TheDeepSeaWitch
Summary: “A day in the life of an Uchiha Witch General and his cat demon familiar.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> For the Halloween Prompt Event for [Sumigakure no Sato](http://sumigakure.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr back in October. Original work [here](http://lithe-cloud.tumblr.com/post/152045598971/my-soul-for-a-days-peace) on Tumblr. Enjoy!
> 
>  **Notes:** Tobirama’s cat form is a [Nebelung](http://purrfectcatbreeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/nebelung4.jpg). This is also blatantly written for the Rare Pair Dinghy Armada lol. Because I am trash.

Demon summoning wasn’t especially hard, not if you bothered to put in a little effort to research. What symbols do you use? What kinds of candle wax doesn’t interfere with the magic being channeled? What color chalk is acceptable to use for the circle (because _apparently_ the color matters to some beings)? It was something even a beginner mage would have the skills to attempt with little error.

The trick comes when you want to summon a _specific_ demon. The ritual has to be tailored to that particular spirit based on their form, abilities and personality. Older spirits often require more detail in their summoning than younger ones. Larger spirits often need larger circles. And don’t even _think_ about summoning a lightning elemental with citrine or malachite. That’s just asking for trouble.

Luckily for Madara, the demon he is attempting to summon only needs a relatively easy to put together ritual. Two small circles in light blue, one half-the size of the other inside the larger one. Two vertical lines in brown emerge from the center circle. Two more pairs in red and white run diagonally to the outer circle, then bend to be parallel to the brown lines. Now write the four symbols of the demon’s name in the spaces between the prongs - first upper right, then left, lower right, then left. On the outer points, place a book, a bag of green tea, dried lemongrass, and a piece of sea glass in any order. The middle points both need a seed of a Fire Country great oak, Madara’s addition to tie himself to the ritual.

In the center of the smallest circle, he places a small pinch of shed fur from the demon himself. If the tetchy bastard where in the material world, just that would be enough to conjure him to Madara’s side. Because there’s a whole layer of reality separating them, a stronger binding was needed to bring him over.

It’s a ritual he’s done countless times over years since he contracted this particular spirit. He’d been a child then, all of 11 and eager to perform the second coming-of-age trial of the Uchiha. It wasn’t uncommon for Uchiha to try and contract fire demons to fit their heritage as Flame Witches. Madara hadn’t had such ambitions when he’d placed his offer of partnership.

Several such demons answered him anyway, familiar through hearsay or experience with the Uchiha’s preferences. They are called to power, to ambition and passion that burned bright and hot in their summoners. Other demons had shown up as well, wanting lasting passage into the mortal world to absorb the ambient magic here and grow stronger. He’d found them wanting and turned them away one by one until only one remained.

However, demons, even bound ones, couldn’t remain in the material world forever. They are beings of energy, physical only so long as they have the strength to hold their forms together. If a demon wished to remain with their summoner, then occasional trips back to the Pure world became necessary. Personal strength plays a part in how long the stretches between these trips became. Mages could do little to help their partners in this regard.

Madara takes a second to cast one last quick glance over the circle. If even a single thing was out of place, his partner would be insufferable. Finding everything in place, he presses a finger to the outer circle and pushes magic into the chalk.

As predicted, the circle begins to glow with a bright light. Madara breaths in and speaks clearly, intoning the demon’s name. The magic would carry his voice into the Pure world.

“Tobirama.”

Madara is unphased when the chalk suddenly catches with black fire, heat licking gently at his body. It was just his own magic reacting to the ritual. He knows from experience there will be no markings on the wooden floor, nor would any of the offering materials be consumed. Tobirama was blessedly pragmatic, and understood how not to cause collateral damage and why.

Now if only his older brother could begin to do the same…

Within minutes, the fire flares silver and condenses into a small, solid form. A cat sits inside what used to be the smaller circle, fur long and down soft and white as the moon. He looks up at Madara with curious red eyes before jumping up to curl around his shoulders like a fluffy scarf.

“It hasn’t been that long since I left,” Tobirama comments, a dry thread of amusement in his voice. He purrs when Madara rubs a hand over his head and neck in greeting and rubs his face against Madara’s neck in return. “Does Lord Sakumo require something from us?”

Madara stands and makes for the door of his personal rooms without bothering to clean up. He doesn’t even try to hold back his annoyance. “Two days ago, your brother caused yet another incident in the southern woods. Mito announced the sex of their unborn child recently. In his excitement, he caused the entire area to become overgrown and saturated with magic. It’s attracting several strong and dangerous species of creatures.”

He feels Tobirama’s ears twitch against his cheek in interest. Madara doesn’t have to look to know that his eyes are dilated and unfocused, senses focused on that which he cannot see. He had always been particularly skilled at sensing and interpreting the currents of magic floating about the material world.

“So that’s why I didn’t sense Hashirama and Mito in the palace. That also explains why Tōka is currently hiding in one of her alternate forms. I believe she’s disguising herself as Izuna’s back-up sword to give the illusion of her absence.”

Is that so? And just after Lord Sakumo asks them to handle the matter, Izuna says he’s taking a sabbatical in order to wait for his demon girlfriend’s return. And, of course, being the kind and understanding man he is, Lord Hatake Sakumo granted Izuna time. That left this whole mess in Madara’s hands, who, as Konoha’s General, would need to oversee things with his second-in-command supposedly out-of-commission.

 _“After all, my Lords, brother, what good is an ill-prepared soldier on the battlefield?”_ Madara believes his exact words were.

Ill-prepared _his ass_.

(Little wonder why Prince Kakashi and the Royal Scientist and Consort Orochimaru looked so amused.)

Still, if Mito was already on her way, she would only take Hashirama and a couple foot soldiers at most for back-up. The fool kodama she agreed to marry would be busy trying to bring the wildlands he accidentally sprouted back under some semblance of order.

Madara frowns, but doesn’t give the thought much attention. Mito is an esteemed Sorceress of the Whirpools and an Uzumaki noblewoman. There was little doubt she’d be able to take care of herself, even this far into her pregnancy. “Lord Sakumo wants us near the walls to take care of anything straying too close to Konoha.”

The demon hums in acknowledgement, but does not comment. Instead, he jumps down from Madara’s shoulders. His form blurs and grows into that of a man wearing nothing more than a short blue yukata. Tobirama looks at Madara with a weighted red stare, something like affection lingering in the tilt of his head and the openness of his posture. Out of the corner of his eye, Madara can see tails swaying, two of them, just as white and unnecessarily furry as in Tobirama’s birth form.

The nekomata reaches up to frame his face and leans in to place a lingering, chaste kiss on his lips. Madara sighs into it, wrapping an arm around a trim waist and raising a hand to rub a red streak on a pale cheek with his thumb. It had only been 3 days since Tobirama had to leave for the Pure world, but Madara had missed him none-the-less. His quarters were too big without the demon there with him.

Tobirama pulls back just enough to place another brief kiss before retreating entirely. “We should get going. Draining the excess magic and forcing an entire forest into a state of obedience will take them some time,” he advised.

“If they hurry, we might even manage to make it back before tomorrow morning,” Madara snorts. He holds the demon close for a moment longer before releasing him. As much as he would like otherwise, they should leave now. The village wasn’t going to look after itself.

Honestly, if it was possible to give one’s soul in return for a favor, he’d do it just for a day’s peace.


End file.
